Sectional air cushion cargo floor



Oct. 29, 1963 T. K. PETERsEN SECTIONAL AIR CUSHION CARGO FLOOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 27, 1960 .illll INVENTOR. Www L/H=rezf/v BY a/K, .zy f if 'rraNE/- Oc`t. 29, 1963 T. K. PETERSEN 3,108,698

sEcTIONAL AIR CUSHION CARGO FLOOR Filed Dec. 27. 19Go 2 sheets-sheet 2 l/ Q L 42"- l 5e gq-15@ I4 `44` 34 50j -46 4b U ig L f '5 75 7170 ,04 o4 72 l :Oz lao la (A, 5 7478 Il y 24- 50 H\s2 Se fr' as 'I e g +5 42 2O Oa JT: (AIEEr-q 16 L 50 84 2O R 4 51 3:1 g. F22

INVENTOR. www M. ,Dfrfzf/v -Arrae/vf/ United States Patent O 3,t8,693 SECTEGNAL AR CUSHIN CARGO FLGE 'l'horvald K. Petersen, Santa Monica, Calif., assigner to Douglas Aircraft Company, lne., Santa Monica, Caiif. Filed Dec. 27, 196), Ser. No. 78,711 6 Claims. (Cl. Zhi-1) This invention relates to transport vehicles, including cargo airplanes, and is particularly concerned with means for facilitating the 'orderly s-towage on the floor of the hollow vehicleabody of items of cargo, especially filled cargo-containers carried by pallets. However, it Will become apparent hereinafter that the invention is by no means l-imited in the scope of its utility to employment in cargo airplanes and that it can be utilized in yany vehicle body: tubular, rectangular, or otherwise cross-sectionally shaped, provided the body includes a basal hoor-framework extending substantially from sideto-side and end-to-end of the substantially hollow cargo space.

Heretofore, items of cargo were winched o-r handloaded into such vehicle bodies and were manually moved into final positions while resting on unimpnoved ooring attached in one piece to the basal floor-framework. Such oors naturally presented a high coefficient of sliding friction with the load or load-carrying pallet being slid into the vehicle. Also, roi course, such floors had to be of invariable width and length, fixed by the length and width or" a particular stock or quantityproduction vehicle, so that no standard, single-unit, flooring could be employed in a non-stock or custommade vehicle, as it could not be practicably varied in width or length to adapt it to be employed in other vehicles having a body of a diierent width or length.

Furthermore, special cargo tie-down means, or 1ashings, were necessitated, especially in cargo airplanes, to prevent drastic shifting `of cargo upon changes in attitudes of the airplane, for example.

This invention obviates these and lother deficiencies by providing sectionalized, friction-reducing Ifloor, each sec- -tion being mounted `disengageably to the basal floorframing of the vehicle body, each section also being rectangular in planform and laterally lling the cargo hold, its width fore-and-.ait being a sub multiple of the length `of the cargo hold. Each section is hollow, the

hollow constituting a plenum chamber Ifor pressurized air. Although the dimensions of each of the present sections, transversely of the body, can only be varied by design-changes in this dimension to iit various widths of vehicle bodies, yet in order to ll vany vehicle body from front end to rear end it is lonly necessary to vary the nu-mber lof these rectangular edgewise labutting sections -to t the longitudinal `dimension of the vehicle body, since the present sections `or' panels are, in their fore-and-aft dimension, sub-multiples of the various longitudinal dimensions of various cargo-holds. The present panels are also readily interchangeable with, lor substitutable for, ydefective panels in various vehicles having a defective panel.

The invention `also includes a source of pressurized-air located conveniently in the forward portion 'of the vehicle body, if the vehicle is aft-loaded, or vice versa if nose-loaded, and each of the panels is hollow but strongly constructed. The hollow in the panel is constituted a plenum chamber, all the chambers being connected in series to the pressure air source. FIihe upper face of each panel is provided with pressure air-outlet yopenings normally closed by a spring-biased ball valve having a portion projecting slightly above said ysurface in a position and attitude whereby the downward force exerted thereon by positioning a load on these projecting portions eliectuates depression and opening of all the air- -,l'g Patented @et 29, 1963 ICC outlet `valves so depressed. Thereby, :as a load is urged ionto successive panels toward its stowed position, the lower face of each load item is provided with ,a lm of pressurized-air, of a magnitude `of the order of 5-10 p.s.i., serving to lboth ilubricate its movements and. to partially buoy up the load. As a consequence, the coefiicient of sliding friction between the moving load item and the present floor can be reduced to as low yas 0:1 from the usual 3.0" or more, the amount of reduction, of course, -depending upon the magnitude per square inch of the pressurized ai-r emitted by said source.

A further feature of the invention resides in a continuous pressure-air manifold `or duct ru-nning 4from the source longitudinally rearwardly of the vehicle -body adjacent the abutted `or assembled panels yor sections. A zone-control valve is disposed in this vduct laterally opposite the final stowage-station of each loaded pallet or cargo item. Although each zone-control valve could be manually operated by Ia crew member walking on the walkway that extends longitudinally of the vehicle body from front to rear of the body `alongside each side of the longitudinally centrally located stowage spaces occupied by the pallets or load, this invention provides special means yfor locking the pallet in its proper stowage station which locking means, upon being inserted in a locking station, also concurrently closes the adjacent zone-control valve thus shutting oit unneeded lubricating and buoying air from the plenum chamber concerned and hence from underneath the finally stowed item. Removal of the locking pins opens these valves to furnish air to the adjacent plenum chamber. When the nal item has been stowed and locked in place all lair is thereby shut off from the plenum chambers in the novel floor, after which the air-compressor source of pressurized airis ofcourse de-activated.

In order to -facilitate raising of :a pallet or cargo item into the rear 'end of the vehicle body from va ilower loading level, which may be the ground `or a low loading dock, a special transition panel, usually narrower foreand-aft than the other panels but `of the same width as theirs, is provided, and has connections to the yair source. It is rested by its front edge -upon Ithe rearmost portion of the basal iloor-'fnaming or the like, slanting downwardly therefrom until its opposite Iedge rests upon the loading level. Thus, no winching up of cargo to the level of the main floor is requisite. Thistransition panel may thereafter be foilded upwardly inside the cargo hold so that the elevated tail or nose section, as the case mayV will either be made manifest lor become apparent Ahere-y inafter.

Solely in order to render the inventive concepts more concrete, and not `by way of limitation, the now-preferred embodiment of these and other concepts 'is representationally illustrated in the accompanying drawings and is described in detail in the following part-by-part exposition thereof.

ln these drawings:

FIG. l is 1a fragmentary perspective view of a cargo airplane fuselage loadable from either the front or the rear rend thereof by means of this invention, and showing the friction-reducing sectionalized ooring laid upon the bare `basal floor-framing of the ifuselage and also showin g the lair supply and cut-oit system;

FlG. 2 is a top plan view of one of the friction reducing tloor sections also showing a fragment 'of the pressure-air supplying manifold containing a zone-control air valve means, but shown diagrammatically;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of aies,

une of the flooring sections, taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2 1nd sighting in the direction of the arrows, showing a :ransversely extending wear plate like the one shown in FIG. 6 on the transition panel;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view on line 4 4 of FIG. 5 illustrating the novel flooring section and showing the aanel-section provided centrally with guides for pallets and including the pressure air manifold with one of the one control valves operated by the same means that ook the pallet l.in its proper stowage station;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section on line 5-5 of FIG. l illustrating the pallet locking and zone-valve opera-ting neans; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, longitudinal section of the uselage, showing a top-plan view of the novel floor and ,ts air supply means, minus the pallets or other loadirticles and illustrating the employment of the transition aanel.

Referring first to FIG. l, 10 designates a substantially follow tubular vehicle body, here shown as a portion )f a cargo airplane fuselage, but it 4is to be understood :hat tbody 10 maybe that of a truck, a freight car, or any )ther hollow cargo carrying body that is other than ;ubular.

In any case, the lower portion of the body is provided with a metal supporting framework, one of the transrersals, 12, of which is shown. This framework extends rom side-to-side and end-to-end of the cargo hold of the vehicle. Rectangular, substantially hollow panels 14,' made of ply-wood, Afor example, and later described, are laid upon this framework with their adjacent longer ends ln airtight mutual contact to constitute a substantially uninterrupted, :continuous floor. As shown in FIG. 3, each panel is disengagea-bly engaged to a subadjacent Stringer, or other longitudinal member, 18, of the supporting framework. y n

A pair of longitudinally extending, laterally spaced, channel-sectioned guide members is provided .for the guidance of pallets 16, later described. The guides 20 are spaced inwardly from the adjacent sides of the vehicle :body a distance suicient to afford a walkway or catwalk 17 along the entire length of the stowed cargo for a purpose later manifested.

As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 6, a pressure air manifold 24 extends longitudinally superadjacent the horizontal, sectionalized door from a tank 98 filled with cornpressed air derived from a compressor 94 driven by a motor 96, the manifold dead-ending at the opposite end of the cargo lhol-d from that end which includes the compressor, etc.

It is to be understood that the compressor, etc., will be located at the rear Ioff the fuselage if same is of the nose-loading type, and vice versa.

In the vicinity of each linal-stowage position of each pallet or cargo-item and super adjacent each one of the floor sections 14, the manifold is provided with a zonecontrol valve 22 for respectively admitting, on occasion, pressure air to, and excluding it from, the plenum chamber, 38, in each floor-section as and for the purposes later detailed.

In FIG. 2, a typical one of the floor sections is shown in top plan view, the internal configuration thereof being detailed in FIG. 3. In 'both these figures itis shown as an oblong unit made of -two parallel sheets of plywood, for example, and united at all edges by wooden spacers 2S, the long edges preferably being provided with seals or the like, not shown. Each section comprises an upper plywood, for example, lamina 3i), spaced apart from an identical lower plywood lamina 36 by means of wooden, preferably, spacers SZ extending lengthwise of the panel and spaced apart transversely of the panel. The laminas and spacers are connected rigidly together and to the stringers 18 by means shown in FIG. 3. These means comprise, atV strategic points, a centrally countersunk bolt washer 48 embedded in the top lamina; a tiush-head bolt 42, and a nut 44 and washer 46, a wooden transverse spacer 50, and a similar nut 44 and Washer 46 on the underside of the flange of the framework Stringer 18. Some of the bolts, however, do not pass through the stringers 18, but stop at the lower face of the lower lamina, since not many anchorages are required for the panels.

As aforementioned, the spacing of the two laminas provides a plenum cham-ber 38 therebetween which is air tightly closed on all faces and edges except in the upper lamina. As shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6 this upper lamina is provided with valved openings 34 distributed substantially uniformly throughout this lamina. The number and spacing of these openings 34 can be designed to vary at the will of the designer, but each opening 34, as shown in FIG. 3, is surrounded by an apertured plate 54, the aperture being concave on its lower face, as show-n. The plate 54 is held to the lamina by a nut plate 56 and bythe nuts and bolts units l58 shown passing through the upper lamina.

Seated in the concavity in plate 54 is ak ball valve, or the like, 60, with a small but sujicient portion of its 'volurne or surface normally projecting slightly above the surface of the upper lamina. The ball valveV is urged into its normally closed position by means of a helical spring 62 seated in a cup 64 which is attached, as shown, to the lower lamina. The valves are opened by the downward pressure of the pallets sliding over them.

Eachpallet is comprised :of a honeycomb core metalfaced structural panel, as shown, having an outwardly opening, channel-section panel ybinding and guide members 66 at each end thereof. The bottom portion of each pallet is `constituted by a lamina of resiliently yieldable material 109, faced olf with a tough, abrasion resistant plastic sheet, as shown. The thickness of the yieldable :lamina plus that of its facing-oft' sheet is such as to enable the lower flange of the outwardly facing channel 66 to t into the inwardly facing guide channels 20, with the lower flange of 66 in sliding contact with the upper flange of channel 20, for a purpose later explained.

In `each of the upper flanges lof the pallet-bounding channels -66 there is a large aperture 162 through which the enlarged portion, shown, of a dual-purpose pin 72 passes, with the head of the pin preferably seated therein flush with the upper surface of the ange, the head being easily seized, however, for vertical movements of the pin by virtue of safety strap 104 secured to the floor at one end and attached at the other end by a tab to the head of the pin in conventional manner. The attenuated shank of pins 72 passes through apertures, shown, in the upper flanges of channels 20 and the lower flanges of channels 66. When thus positioned, pins 72 lock the pallet in its predetermined proper stowage position of a licor section and concurrently shut olf the air supply from yduct 24 to the plenum chamber of the adjacent section, and hence to the ball-valves. At this time, with the pallet stowed and locked in position against acceleration, impact and other pallet-displacement causing forces, there vis of course no need of an air layer underneath the pallet, and after they all assume this position, the compressor unit is, of course, tie-activated.

The mechanism `whereby a locking pin 72, when inserted in the position shown in FIG. 4, shuts olf or deactivates the adjacent zone-'control valve is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 comprising, first, the pin itself and a depressor 70 that cooperates with other parts, later ex- Y plained, for moving the ported slide valve from `its operative position to the closing position shown in FIG. 5. As caribe seen in FIG. 4, depressor 70 is L-shaped and its upper horizontal flange 71 is provided with an opening 73 to receive the attenuated portion of pin 72. Opening 73 may be provided with a bayonet slot and pin 72 may have a cooperating bayonet cross-pin to disengageahly 'lock members 70 and 72 together on partial rotation of pin 72 in order to provide for the actuation of parts hereinafter described. On the outboard end of a shaft 74 there is fixed an actuating arm 78, the lower, knobbed end of which engages always in a groove, shown, in the inboard end portion `of the slide valve $6. The depressor 76 and the pin 72, when displaced downwardly, cause the shaft 74 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 5, thus moving the arm 73 -to the right as viewed in FIG. 5, thereby to deregister the ports shown in slide valve 80 with those shown sub-adjacent thereto in the upper lamina of the panel or floor section, thus excluding air from the plenum chamber.

This action is caused to occur in a quick-motion, or snap fashion by means of a helical spring S8 arranged in over-center acting relationship to an arm 76 attached to the inner end of shaft 74 and at an acute angle to the arm 78. The inner end ofthe spring SS is attached to the horizontally extending portion of arm 76, as shown in FIG. 5, the outer end of this spring being attached to fixed structure at a point lying above its inner end. Arm 76 is attached by means of pin 99 to the lower end of depressor 7b through a slot or other lost motion connection.

Thus, when the pin and the depressor `are raised, the over-center relationship aforementioned causes the arm 7i) to rotate clockwise and 'the arm 78 is snapped leftwardl-y, urging the air-ports in slide valve Sil into registry `with the ports shown in the upper lamina of the panel; contrarywise, when the pin and depressor :are -forced downwardly, the over-center relationship mentioned above snaps the arm and slide valve out of registry with the ports Se in the lamina. ln both positions, the snap mechanism also serves to positively hold the valve open or closed until the pin is manipulated.

There is also shown yan upper keeper or guide S2 for slide val-ve fil, as well as a lower keeper 34 therefor.

As each pallet or cargo item reaches and rests in its predetermined stowage station on a panel or section of the floor, a pin 72 is inserted as above and, `as described closes the adjacent zone-control valve. When the time comes to unload the cargo, the pin 72 in the unit nearest the cargo-exit is removed, activating the pressure-air zonecontrol valve adjacent thereto and thus providing a layer of lubricating and buoying air underneath the'concerned pallet or cargo item to facilitate its unloading. This pin removal action is performed in succession lfor each of the units including the one most remote from the cargo exit, all the pins of course being left in their removed condition so that the remotest car-go unit can glide the full length of the floor on a layer of pressure-ainrwhereby the manual, or other, effort necessary to unload and load the cargo hold is minimized.

ln FiG. 6 there is shown, at the entrance and exit end of the floor, a transition panel 92 which is constructed like all the other sections except that it is here shown narrower, longitudinally of the floor, than are the other panels. lit also includes a wear plate litri as shown in FIG. 3. lt can be as wide as the other panels, if desired. Since it may be inclined downwardly about l1/2 from .the next `adjacent panel 25, with its lower edge resting on the loading level, lll@ such as a low loading dock or the ground, it is not provided with guides Ztl; but is, as me the other panels, connected llexibly to the pressure air duct 24 and zone-control valve at its one side and is provided with a plenum chamber yand with ball valves in its upper lamina, so that it, too, minimizes the effort necessary to urge :a pallet or cargo item up the incline into the cargo hold. It is not essential that all abutting edges have wear plates, but it is preferable to have the abutting panels abut mutually as nearly airtightly as possible; to this end, ya conventional elastomeric sealing strip, not shown, may be provided on each of the labutting edges, if desired.

Although the now-preferred embodiment of the invention has been specifically illustrated yand described, by

way of example, only, it will be understood by those skilled in .the art that various `modifications and ramifications of the particular embodiment shown may be accomplished without departing from the essence 'and scope of the invention itself.

l claim:

l. An antiriction flooring reducing the sliding-friction of objects, such as loaded pallets, moved thereon, comprising: a framework constituting supporting means; a source of pressurized air; a plurality of substantially hollow, slidable-loads, or pallets; load-supporting panels, said panels bei-ng disposed on said lframework in mutual coplanarity and in mutually 1edgewise-abutting rel-ationship; each of said panels being disengageably engaged to said framework; `for reduction in the number of panels and for rearrangement thereof; means communicating the hollow interior of leach pmol with said air source; the upper, or load-contacting, face of each panel including a pluralityrof pressure-air outlets therein; movable airexit means in each outlet normally closing each outlet, said movable Imeans being load-movable to release pressurized air between the lower surface of a load or pallet and the upper sur-face of each panel, so as to reduce the sliding friction and lubricate the sliding load; the means that communicate the interiors of the panels ywith said air source including la conduit extending longitudinally adjacent the panels; a slide-valve means disposed in said conduit laterally adjacent each panel, said slide-Valve means being arranged and constructed to be operated so as to supply, `and to terminate supply, of air into each adjacent panel; pinning means; and means constructed `and arranged with such a spatial yand geometrical rel-ation respecting said slide valve, said panel and the slidableloads or pallets as to enable said pin member to be inserted vertically through a portion of said pallet and a portion of said slide valve so as to thereby concurrently close said slide valve `and lockl the concerned pallet in position; removal of the laforesaid inserted pinning means concurrently opening the slide valve and unlocking the pallet.

2. A `liooring-component `according to claim l, in which the panel assembly that extends lfrom side-to-side and end-to-end of the lloor framing lies elevated above the approach loading plane ffor the vehicle, and in which there is a transition panel lying outside the vehicle body with its front edge supported by and detachfably attached to the rear end portion of said lfloor-framing and having its rear edge resting on the loading-plane and even with, and substantially parallel to said plane, said transition panel being otherwise substantially the same as the other panels, whereby to enable pallets yand load-articles to be substantially `frictionlessly slid into the vehicle from the loading plane onto the assembly of other panels.

3. ln a vehicle, an anti-friction flooring for reducing the sliding-friction thereon of objects slid thereupon, such as loaded pallets, comprising: a basal-frameworkg a plurality of panels supported in coplanarity and in mutual abutment thereon; each panel being substantially hollow and `adapted for receiving pressurized air; a source of pressurized air; a duet connected to said source and exyaforesaid first ports, on occasion, so as to establish pressure-air flow from the respective valves in the duct through the respective registered ports into the respective hollow interiors of said panels; the two sets of ports in the slidevalve lunit adjacent each pallet being de-registerable to exclude pressure-air from the Iadjacent panel; and means :'or sliding the slide member of the slide valve into and Jut of registration as aforesaid, said means including a )inning-member insertable through an edge-located porion of the pallet-and-valve group and through an upvandly extending adjunct of the panel, said insertion :losing the slide valve and locking the pallet in place; -ernoval of said pinning member from the aforesaid po- ;ition positively opening said slide valve and unlocking yhe pallet :from the panel group.

4. in a vehicle having a hollow body, a llooring-comaonent comprising a source of pressure lair; a plurality )f substantially hollow yload-receiving panels, each oc- :upying a load station, the lhollows in said panels deining plenum chambers for the pressure air; a manifold :Xtending longitudinally of the flooring-component superidjacent the panels; a pair of parallel, laterally spaced cad-article guides extending longitudinally on the upper aoes of the assembled panels; a slide valve disposed latd :rally opposite each load station; the slide valve includ- ,ng first ports opening on -a lirst face into the manifold; second ports in the upper `face of the panel that are egistrable with the opposite faces ol' the first ports to :stablish tlow from the manifold into the plenum cham ner, said slide valve being de-registrable `with the iirst aorts to exclude manifold air from said chamber; and neans for operating said slide valve to place said iirst ports into and out of registry with said second ports; said means comprising a bell-crank `mounted on a shaft extending transversely in the manifold, said crank having ane arm engage-d in said slide valve and movable forwardly and backwardly therewith in the manifold to respectively de-register land register said rst and second ports; said crank having a second arm mounted to said shaft at an obtuse rearward angle to the rst arm, said arm having an upbent portion terminating its lower end; a downwardly and upwardly moving member interposed laterally between said arm and the outer surface of one of the load-article guides, said actuator being movable up and down in the vertical plane and constituting l-a depressor thereby moved out of and into depressing contact with said second ar-m; and a vertically movable activator integral with said depressor.

5. In a vehicle having la hollow body, a flooring-coi ponent comprising a source of pressure air; a plurality of substantially hollow load-receiving panels, each occupying a load station, Ithe hollows in said panels dening plenum chambers for the pressure air; Ka manifold extending longitudinally of the ilooring-component superadjacent the panels; a pair of parallel, laterally spaced load article guildes extending longitudinally along the upper faces of the assembled panels; complementary guide means bounding each lateral edge of each panel and adapted to interit into tie iirstmrentioned guide means; a slide valve ldisposed laterally opposite each load station; the slide valve including rst ports opening on a rst face into the manifold; second ports in the upper face of the panel that are registrable with the opposite faces of the first ports to establish flow 4from the manifold into the plenum chamber, said slide Valve being deregistrable with the first ports to exclude rmanifold air from said chamber; yand means for operating said slide valve to place said first ports into and out of registry with said second ports; said means comprising a bellf crank mounted on a shaft extending transversely in the manifold, said crank having one arm engaged in said slide valve and movable forwardly and backwardly therewith in the mani-fold to respectively tie-register and register said iirst and second ports; said crank having a second arm mounted to said shaft sat an obtuse rearward angle to the rst arm, said arm having an upbent portion terminating its lower end; a downwardly and upwardly moving member interposed laterally between said arm and the outer surface of one of the load-article guides, said actuator being movable up and down in the vertical plane and constituting a depressor thereby moved into and out of depressing contact with said second arm; and a vertically movable activator integral with said depressor, said activator normally passing through both the tirst and the second yguiding means to both lock the load article in its stowage station and to close said slide valve thereby to exclude air from said plenum chamber 'When `the load article is in stowed position.

6. A construction according `to claim 4, in which there is a spring attached at one end to the end of the second arm in an over-center position, the opposite end of said spring being attached to iixed structure thereby to 0perate said shaft and first arm with an over-center snap action so as to positively hold the valve in closed and open positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent AUNITED STATES PATENTS 629,140 Vollkommer July 18, 1899 2,392,789 Watter Jan. 8, 1946 2,472,623 Schulze lune 7, 1949 2,858,774 Batten Nov. 4, 1958 2,918,183 Petersen Dec. 22, 1959 FoRnIGN PATENTS 164,626 Australia Aug. 17, 1955 

1. AN ANTI-FRICTION FLOORING REDUCING THE SLIDING-FRICTION OF OBJECTS, SUCH AS LOADED PALLETS, MOVED THEREON, COMPRISING: A FRAMEWORK CONSTITUTING SUPPORTING MEANS; A SOURCE OF PRESSURIZED AIR; A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY HOLLOW, SLIDABLE-LOADS, OR PALLETS; LOAD-SUPPORTING PANELS, SAID PANELS BEING DISPOSED ON SAID FRAMEWORK IN MUTUAL COPLANARITY AND IN MUTUALLY EDGEWISE-ABUTTING RELATIONSHIP; EACH OF SAID PANELS BEING DISENGAGEABLY ENGAGED TO SAID FRAMEWORK; FOR REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF PANELS AND FOR REARRANGEMENT THEREOF; MEANS COMMUNICATING THE HOLLOW INTERIOR OF EACH PANEL WITH SAID AIR SOURCE; THE UPPER, OR LOAD-CONTACTING, FACE OF EACH PANEL INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF PRESSURE-AIR OUTLETS THEREIN; MOVABLE AIREXIT MEANS IN EACH OUTLET NORMALLY CLOSING EACH OUTLET, SAID MOVABLE MEANS BEING LOAD-MOVABLE TO RELEASE PRESSURIZED AIR BETWEEN THE LOWER SURFACE OF A LOAD OR PALLET AND THE UPPER SURFACE OF EACH PANEL, SO AS TO REDUCE THE SLIDING FRICTION AND LUBRICATE THE SLIDING LOAD; THE MEANS THAT COMMUNICATE THE INTERIORS OF THE PANELS WITH SAID AIR SOURCE INCLUDING A CONDUIT EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY ADJACENT THE PANELS; A SLIDE-VALVE MEANS DISPOSED IN SAID CONDUIT LATERALLY ADJACENT EACH PANEL, SAID SLIDE-VALVE MEANS BEING ARRANGED AND CONSTRUCTED TO BE OPERATED SO AS TO SUPPLY, AND TO TERMINATE SUPPLY, OF AIR INTO EACH ADJACENT PANEL; PINNING MEANS; AND MEANS CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED WITH SUCH A SPATIAL AND GEOMETRICAL RELATION RESPECTING SAID SLIDE VALVE, SAID PANEL AND THE SLIDABLELOAD OR PALLETS AS TO ENABLE SAID PIN MEMBER TO BE INSERTED VERTICALLY THROUGH A PORTION OF SAID PALLET AND A PORTION OF SAID SLIDE VALVE SO AS TO THEREBY CONCURRENTLY CLOSE SAID SLIDE VALVE AND LOCK THE CONCERNED PALLET IN POSITION; REMOVAL OF THE AFORESAID INSERTED PINNING MEANS CONCURRENTLY OPENING THE SLIDE VALVE AND UNLOCKING THE PALLET. 